sweet handbag o mine

All recycled leather, all the time. Vancouver style.


Junco by Ashley Watson
$250-ish


It looks like a brownie! I have dibs on this one.

boo! green your halloween

Consider carving an organic pumpkin this Halloween! Blue House Farm in Pescadero Calif. grows these and much more available through their CSA. While you're at it, check out the nearby Half Moon Bay annual Pumpkin Festival! Its well worth the drive.

Save the guts!

Baked pumpkin seed recipe:

Preheat oven to 250 F.
Rinse pumpkin seeds. Use your fingers to remove all the pulp.
Drain pumpkin seeds and discard pulp.
Spread out on paper towels on a cookie sheet to dry overnight.
Line a baking sheet with non-stick foil.

Toss pumpkin seeds in olive oil, butter, or spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, or your choice of seasonings. Toss to coat.

Bake about 1 hour, tossing every 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

from about.com

julianne moore designs: lutz & patmos exclusive

Fall 2007 brings the luminous Julianne Moore to the atelier of designers Tina Lutz and Marcia Patmos. Lutz & Patmos' eponymous line has impeccable credentials and has managed to fly under mainstream's radar while garnering accolades in TIME magazine's Coolest Inventions of 2002, projects with Yves Behar, and was selected as a top ten finalist for the 2005 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.

Sheesh! The ladies know how to work it.

Back to Ms. Moore. The fire-locked patron saint of Greenwich Village has helped create the Everyday Cardigan with a vintage feel and inspired by Julianne's own favorite cardigan.

$30 of each sweater sold will go to Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. This unfortunate genetic disease is like having autism, epilepsy, and kidney disease all at once.

Visit www.tsalliance.org to give your support. Purchase the Everyday Cardigan online at www.lutzandpatmos.com.

blame canada

Canucks Passenger Pigeon have mastered the effortless, sexy, comfortable, niche dress. Enough sass and decolletage for Friday night on the town; tailored for a board meeting or chatting around the water cooler.

Using all natural textiles isn't enough for these girls. Noooo. Designers Heather Schibli and Wendy Traas renamed their label in homage to the extinct passenger pigeon . They also support various conservation organizations;

Sustainable Cotton Project
Pesticide Action Network of North America
Organic Trade Association
Ecochoices

So, if we manage to reverse global warming, do as South Park did and blame Canada.

chuck taylor, meet your match

No Sweat
Olive High-top
$42 - on sale $37

Yeah, Chucks are cool. They're cool when they're fresh out of the box, even cooler when they've walked through beer and put out a few cigarettes. They're kind of like punk-pearl-earrings; they never go out of style.

Good thing there's always room to improve on a classic. No Sweat flips the switch on the iconic high-top sneaks with a 100% fair trade, union made version.

No Sweat's first and foremost objective is to provide quality working conditions and a decent living wage for the garment workers, "We believe the only way to protect
workers anywhere is to defend workers’ rights everywhere." Coming soon, environmentally friendly and organic merchandise.

Longer, Thicker, Fuller, Greener, Lashes.

Ecco Bella $13.95

Mascara's origins were concocted by cosmetic alchemists whose names we still see in Sephora; Rimmel, Maybelline, and good ol' Helena Rubenstein. At its genesis, mascara was used as a coal-vasoline combo or as a cake of colorant and carnuba wax. Modern mascara production has evolved to include solvents, shellac, and lacquer to the mix.

Ecco Bella has come to the rescue with their all natural black and brown mascara. It lengthens and thickens as well as any Lancome product and is fantastic for sensitive eyes.

Total 360

360 Vodka is possibly the most environmentally friendly booze on the market. The spirit's Quadruple Distillation process is exceptionally energy efficient and is filtered five times. Sound impressive? Da.

According to the company website, 360 has conserved a veritable laundry list of resources in their packaging and labeling:

26 million tons of BTU
36 trees
1,715 lbs of solid waste
2,924 average miles by car
3,345 lbs of greenhouse gas
15,337 gallons of water.

Spasibo 360.